For Jewish men, there is a Biblical obligation to wear a set of Phylacteries (also called tefillin), generally during the morning prayer service. A set of Phylacteries comprises a head unit for placement on the head and an arm unit for placement on the arm. Each Phylactery comprises two major components: a leather box that contains specific portions of the Bible written on parchment and a leather strap (retsua) attached to the box.
While initially preparing the straps and allowing for proper use, the leather straps are tied to head and arm Phylactery boxes with a special knot that forms a letter from the Hebrew alphabet, a letter which is part of one of the Hebrew names of G-d. To this end, FIG. 1 shows a head Phylactery box 10 with a head strap 12 and a knot 14 resembling the Hebrew letter Daled, one of the letters of one of the Hebrew names of G-d. FIG. 2 shows the arm Phylactery box 20 with a strap 22 and a knot 24 resembling the Hebrew letter Yud, another one of the letters of one of the Hebrew names of G-d. FIG. 3 shows a second of a head Phylactery wherein the knot 14 resembles a double Daled that looks like a box. Thus, on the head Phylactery, the strap 12 is manipulated to form a letter resembling a Daled (FIG. 1) or a double Daled (FIG. 3) while on the arm Phylactery, the strap 22 is manipulated to form a letter resembling a Yud (FIG. 2).
Once the Phylacteries are attached to the head and arm in the manner prescribed by Jewish law, the knot 14 of the strap 12 resembling the letter Daled of the head Phylactery will sit under the external occipital protuberance and the knot 24 of the strap 22 resembling the letter Yud will sit on the bicep of the individual's weaker hand.
It is the opinion of a noted Jewish scholar, Rashi, that the knots in the straps resembling the two letters Yud and Daled, but not the remaining portions of the straps, are on a very high level of holiness, equal to the holiness of the letter of a Torah (Rashi Tractate Shabbos 62a, Tractate Menachos 35b). The holiness of these knots is thus on a level higher than the holiness of the remainder of the straps, and even of the holiness of the bottom part of the Phylactery boxes, known as the teturah.
As a result of their heightened holiness according to Rashi, it is his opinion that the knots 14, 24 should not be stored under the bottom part of the Phylactery boxes and definitely not under any storage devices or protective covers in which the Phylacteries are stored when not in use, even inadvertently. Further, no other portion of the straps should be placed on the knots.
The head and arm Phylacteries are stored differently, partly in view of the different knots in the straps thereof. The present state of the art when storing head Phylacteries is to place the box 10 into a first, upper part or shell member 64 of a protective cover 62 having a portion substantially contoured to the shape of the box 10, and then manipulate a second, lower part or shell member 66 of the protective cover 62 to enclose the box 10, but without enclosing the entire strap 12 (see FIGS. 4A-4D). Moreover, the strap 12 is aligned with slots 68 in each side of the protective cover 62. The upper shell member 64 is partially separable from the lower shell member 66, i.e., pivotable relative thereto as shown in FIGS. 4C and 4D, but when together, define a hollow interior contoured to fit the Phylactery box 10. To this end, the upper shell member 64 includes a generally cube-shaped portion 70 having a rear surface 72, a front surface 74, lateral side surfaces 76, 78 extending between the front and rear surfaces 72, 74 and a substantially planar, rectangular lower surface 80 around the cube-shaped portion (see FIGS. 4A-4D). Slots 68 are present on each lateral side of the protective cover 62 and defined partly by the upper shell member 64 and partly by the lower shell member 66. A pivot pin 82 is arranged at the rear of the protective cover 62 to enable the upper shell member 64 to pivot relative to the lower shell member 66. In use, the knot 14 is usually then placed against the bottom of the protective cover 62 (see FIGS. 4, 4E and 4F) and, while the knot 14 is maintained in the position against the bottom the protective cover 62, the strap 12 is wrapped around the protective cover 62 by placing the portion of the strap 12 that surrounds the head on top of the protective cover 62 and the wrapping the portions of the strap 12 that hang from the knot 14 around the side portions of the protective cover 62.
Unfortunately, since this wrapping method results in the knot 14 being situated below the entire Phylactery box 10 and also below the protective cover 62 (when viewed as shown in FIGS. 4, 4E and 4F), it is in violation of the position (at least Rashi) that the knot 14 should not be placed below the Phylactery box 10 nor under the protective cover 62.
Moreover, in conventional protective covers, there is an insufficient ledge formed by the protective cover to adequately support the entire knot 14. Specifically, the width of the rear side of a conventional protective cover for a head Phylactery is no more than 3 centimeters. However, the length of the knot 14 is usually 4 or more centimeters. In view of this difference, when wrapping the hanging portions of a strap 12 around a conventional protective cover of a head Phylactery, the knot 14 is often not securely seated on the protective cover.
Further, if the knot 14 were to be placed on the upper side of the teturah alongside a portion of the protective cover covering the box 10, i.e., on the lower surface 80 of the upper shell member 64, there is not sufficient space to wrap the hanging portions of the strap 12 around the side portions of the protective cover 62 without covering the knot 14 because the conventional protective cover 62 has, at most, and usually less than, about 1.0 centimeters of space on the side portions around which to wrap the hanging portions of the strap 12. The approximate centimeter of space of the side portions of the protective cover 62 is insufficient to enable the wrapping of the hanging portions of the strap 12, which have a width of about 0.9 centimeters to about 1.5 centimeters, without wrapping the strap 12 on or over the knot 14. Because wrapping the hanging portions of the strap 12 over the knot is in violation of the position of Rashi, it is problematic to use conventional protective covers for a head Phylactery while complying with Rashi's position to maintain the heightened holiness of the knot 14 by both avoiding placing the knot 14 under the protective cover 62 and avoiding wrapping the strap 12 over the knot 14 if the knot 14 were placed on the top of the protective cover 62.
The present state of the art when storing arm Phylacteries is to place the box 20 into a first part or shell member of a protective cover having a portion substantially contoured to the shape of the box 20, and then manipulate a second part or shell member of the protective cover to enclose the box 20, but without enclosing the entire strap 22. The knot 24 is usually then placed against one side of the protective cover (the right side of right-handed individuals and the left side for left-handed individuals) and the strap 22 is then wrapped around one or more other sides of the protective cover to insure that nothing is placed atop the knot 24. However, sometimes, the strap 22 is quite long and cannot be securely wrapped around the sides of the protective cover without covering a portion of the knot 24.
In view of the foregoing issues, it would be desirable to provide new protective covers for both head and arm Phylacteries which enable easy compliance with Rashi's opinion relating to limitations imposed on the wrapping of straps relative to knots thereof.